The Happy Creek Learning Centre at St. Gregory Catholic School were the proud recipients the Ken Spencer Awards. There are three awards that can be won, and the learning centre came in second receiving a plaque and $3,000 award.

Cooke flew from New Brunswick to present the award.

“I just wanted to congratulate everyone,” he said.

The Ken Spencer Award recognizes schools across Canada for taking risks to make innovative learning environments.

Ohana was shot in Haridwar, at Sri Ram Ashram. At the orphanage, family is viewed much differently than our western perception of family structures. In the documentary, students from Mount Royal University, Calgary are asked what they think family means. The students are documented as they travel to the Ashram and experience what a high-context culture functions and how family is viewed. Brothers and sisters from the orphanage are interviewed as well, giving a unique insight into how they view their family. A final interview is conducted back in Calgary to see how student’s perceptions have changed.

H.O.P.E. (Housing, Outreach, Prevention, Engagement) is a program that helps prevent homelessness. The team works together to help those in need who are one step away from being homeless. They provide mobile transportation, apartment bookings and grocery shopping for clients.

Geoff Webber is a H.O.P.E. team member. He has been working for H.O.P.E. for the past year.

“Working here grows you. I know I’ve learned to be more compassionate towards people. It’s easy to burn out when you’re results driven,” he said.

Live Organ Harvesting has to stop, says the Falun Gong AssociationCalgary based association urges Chinese Communist Party to release prisoners

Jinling Huang is a Falun Gong practitioner that fled from China after facing imprisonment. During her incarceration, Huang was tortured and forced to renounce her beliefs. Currently, Huang is part of the Falun Gong Association of Calgary, an activist group trying to raise awareness to the issue.

“I was imprisoned because I practice Falun Gong,” said Huang, “While I was in the detention centre, I was refused food and had to stand all day and night. They kept trying to get me to write on a piece of paper that I no longer practiced.”

While in the detention centre, Huang said she sustained three heart attacks. Her husband, who lives in Calgary, advocated for his wife. After five months, Huang was released and fled to Canada.

The Falun Gong Association of Calgary is an activist group that raises awareness of live organ harvesting in China. Jenny Yang, director of communications for the Falun Gong Association, says she believes enough attention could cause the party to stop their actions.